Þe riche erl ne foryat nouth,
Þat he ne dede al engelond
Sone sayse intil his hond;
And in þe castels leth he[12] do
Þe knictes he micte tristen to;
And alle þe englis dede he swere[n],
Þat he shulden him ghod fey baren;
till the maiden is twenty years old.
He yaf alle men, þat god þoucte,
Liuen and deyen til þat him moucte,[13]